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Geoff

I had Geoff from when he was a kitten (even though cats eat rats, baby rats are called kittens. Life can be strange like that). Geoff was the first rat I owned and I bought him with his brother, Nuts. If I hadn't had two of them it might have taken me longer to realize that Geoff wasn't quite all the ticket. People might not know this, but rats are very intelligent animals - they can't read or write, but they can learn to negotiate a maze very quickly, get into food cupboards and solve puzzles (not jigsaws, but things made for rodents). Nuts was very alert from day one. Geoff wasn't. It didn't take me long to realize he was a rat with severe learning difficulties. He also got scabs from stress. He was stressed because he was falling behind in class so to speak - Nuts was the 'alpha' rat.

I took him to the vet who said he would never function fully - he would always have a 'vacant' look and would never be able to find his way through mazes or perform tricks. Well, I was going to prove everyone wrong. And I did, sort of. I spent hours and hours teaching Geoff basic tricks such as find the lady and the rope trick. He didn't understand them but the attention paid off in other ways - his scabs healed thanks to my devotion and some ointment the vet had given me. And he did stop falling off his shelf (sometimes his eyes would glaze over as if he lost concentration and he would topple off his little shelf).

It may not seem like a very upsetting story to some people because he is a rat and he wasn't ill as such, but it is hard for an animal when it isn't functioning at full throttle mentally. These creatures need just as much (maybe more) love and attention than others who might just have a physical disability.

I am attaching a photo of Geoff. He is asleep in this one - he sleeps a lot more than most rats because he needs to gather his mental energy. I hope this story might provide inspiration for others who own a mentally deficient rodent - or any other animal. They also deserve care and attention.

Regards,

Deena.